Chapter 13: Good one Mellisa!

Arctic was torn between feeling angry, remorseful and enthusiastic. Angry at the mission they were headed to ,remorseful because Acacia had resumed her blank face and he knew she was hurting but was trying really had to be closed off,enthusiastic about the fact that Acacia had opened her heart to him, she had allowed him to see the passion in her eyes,the yearning, he had heard the voice in her heart reflected in her eyes. That was enough for him,for now.

As they neared Savanna, he briefly glimpsed at her and noticed how tensed she seemed, she was doing this for them,he thought,selflessly, not minding the danger she was putting herself in. At that moment, he liked her even more,despite not knowing her,infact he only knew her name,but he felt like he knew her,she had things that made her closed off,painful memories were not easy to share,he had an experience with that,he was going to protect her ,to keep her safe and make her happy. That he swore.

He saw her look at her watch and then her expression changed to that of quandary. He suprised her yet again by clasping her hands in his,squeezing them lightly in reassurance that he was here. Her shoulders slightly relaxed but the apprehension was still evident in her eyes. She was so strong yet so weak and vulnerable.

"We are here."

"Hmm", she hummed in reply,her voice distracted . She reached for her phone again withdrawing her hands from his which made him cold and already missing the contact.

"What are we looking for?" He asked his eyes following the direction of hers. He wished the girl was alittle bit open with her plans for he was so clueless on whatever they were doing here,he so wanted to go out and squeeze the life out of his cousin and demand a confession out of him but he was trusting her to take the lead.

"Just watch for anything suspicious, especially for workers looking suspicious or doing anything suspicious ". She said.

"How will we find things out in the parking lot which I might add is out of view except and from our position we can only view afew people doing whatever they are doing at the restaurant ".

"What time is it?" She asked instead and if it was someone else,Arctic would have retaliated for ignoring him but this was Acacia, so he looked at his watch and answered.

"12.40 ". Making sure his tone was mocking.

"You were running a restaurant and the time still doesn't give meaning to you? " she mocked ,her eyes briefly turning to him before turning towards the restaurant.

"It's usually a busy time with people coming in for lunch".

"I see your brain is functioning after all", he lifted his eyebrows at her comment ready to come up with a comeback but was interrupted when she took the camera and threw it at his hands.

"You probably know or don't know this but it's a busy hour so those who do suspicious things do them at this hour because they know everyone is busy. Especially employees, it is time for their ravenous actions,couples who want to steal kisses, workers who want to steal from the company and since your cousin is a shitty person ,I assume he is the type of boss workers steal from because he doesn't provide enough for them, In short it is the time when there is enough distractions for people to do their things with the hope that no one is watching and one of the best places to do so is in the parking lot,I'm sure you have experience with that". She looked at him again,her face mocking him.

"What! I have never done those things you know!" He tried to sound offended but the girl was still looking at him as if he was a liar. Her eyes moved to his lips and his face darkened knowing what she was thinking.

"Well, i have never kissed someone in the parking lot if that is what you are asking,would you mind making me have the experience of getting kissed in a parking space? " She froze at his statement and then quickly looked away,her face flushed which made him haul in laughter.

"Focus,you can experience the feeling by watching those couples make up." She said and pointed outside ,Arctic was immediately drawned to the couple in uniforms of the hotel who were heavily making out besides one of the cars ,he cursed . Darn!,the girl knew what she was doing.

"Stop ogling,take pictures quickly and then move to the back of the car , we need serious evidences other than people kissing".

"Evidences for what?" He asked as he lifted the camera already thankful they took her car,no one could notice theh were in here,infact he could take pictures without anyone even knowing.

"Blackmail ofcourse ".

Shocked,he paused and turned to stare at her,she was so engrossed at whatever was happening at the restaurant that she didn't even notice his expression.

"What is so interesting at watching people eat their lunch ? Now tell me why we are going to blackmail this innocent employees ". He sneered and the girl didn't even turn to look at her.

"If you want to catch a rat,you have to play at its game. We simply give the employees more reason to do something little for us in return for not exposing them ,that way,we smoke the rat out of it's hiding,if we are lucky enough, it will become careless and maybe we can catch it with the meat in its mouth."

"I am not going to pretend that I am understanding whatever you are saying because I'm not". She shook her head and turned to look at him. Suprising him yet again, she took his hands in his.

"Trust me on this Arctic, i should have explained everything to you on our way here but I promise to do it when we finish this. Please." She squeezed his hands and Arctic nodded,the sound of his name on her mouth melted all the doubt and questions, he just nodded and Acacia pulled her hands away,back to the sight she seemed to be interested in.

He scanned the area again noticing the kissing couple had long left,he moved to the back to check other places ,afew minutes passed and it was still empty ,bored he made a turn to go to the front again but from the corner of his eyes noticed a figure rushing to one of the cars,he didn't even give it a second thought as he lifted his camera .

The lady who had minutes ago just been ravished in the parking lot was now with another guy,they seemed to be in a hurry and what interested Arctic more was the boxes they were carrying. He frantically snapped pictures as they unlocked one of the cars and placed the boxes inside. He took more pictures including the car and its number plate. He saw them look around as if confirming that no one was watching ,satisfied the man smiled then they slid inside the car,his mouth on her lips as they stumbled inside.

"Minx". He sneered as he took photos of them kissing before the car swallowed them. Excited, he turned to the front seat to show Acacia of his findings and her expression made her race to her side ,worry growing inside him,what was happening?

Her face had turned pale and she was gripping the seat tightly, she didn't look like she was in danger but like she was seeing something she couldn't believe. He followed the direction where her eyes were glued at but all he saw was people sitting at their respective tables, either eating or discussing, an older man sat with a girl who seemed to be explaining a point to the man but his expression showing he was not believing whatever she was saying,he wondered how it concerned Acacia anyway.

..................

She didn't notice how affected she was until she felt the tremor engulfing her. Her eyes refused to move from them. She wanted to see. She felt Arctic move and then warmth from his body filled her as he pulled her into his arms embracing her like a baby,she didn't mind because she now realised why she had wanted him to come along.

Seeing her father for the first time was not easy, from the pictures he had of the man,he had not changed much,he looked older but that was it,the only thing Acacia had inherited from him was his height,her Father was a very tall man and so was she.

Seeing her father had not shaken her much ,but when he noticed the people watching his every move ,she realised she was staring right at her enemies, one of them seemed to be the man from her dreams,his phisique was the same ,they knew of his every move and she realised if she was the one meeting him today,she wouldn't want to know what could have happened next.

"They are so close ", she whispered, clutching unto him tightly . She was grateful when he didn't ask who but carefully rubbed her back soothing her instantly.

She was still far from completing her mission and yet they were almost finding her,abandoning the project was not an option,she had already injected hope in them,this was not the time to give up. She had to find a way to warn him.

Oh God! What about Mellisa! They would probably stalk the poor girl,she had to do something to keep her safe. She had to be strong to survive and to protect the people around her.

Acacia disentangled herself from Arctic offering him an apologetic smile . He cleared his throat and shifted on his seat,Acacia was confused on his reaction as he seemed uncomfortable.

Not giving it much thought,she averted her eyes back to them,her 'dad' was now standing up, whatever he was telling Melissa now seemed to be serious as her shoulders tensed ,she looked at him but didn't reply to whatever he said. He then turned and left,leaving Melissa still seated.

She froze when she saw one of the men approach her. Swiftly she called her and was thankful when she immediately picked.

"Don't look back but someone is approaching you,whatever he asks you ,don't answer, assume you don't anything. Don't hang up your phone, I want to listen to the conversation ".

If she was suprised, she didn't show it ,Melissa just took her phone and placed it on the table facing down as the man sat on the just vacated seat. She looked at the man who was smiling discreetly at her.

"Hi,I noticed you have been left here alone". The man said.

"And it would really be nice if you leave me alone too". Nice one Melissa.

"Hey sorry,but I kind of know of your companion."

"That's good but I don't wish to know how or why you know him, can you leave please ,I have a meeting and I need to go."

"Look,I just want to ask you afew questions about...." he started,his tone now cold but Melissa interrupted him again.

"Look here man,I am currently pissed because today I seem to be meeting the wrong people,first it was that old man who thought I could be his whore because he saw me in a short dress, can't a lady just dress nice to please herself, and he had the guts to tell me that he could give me more money as if I'm lacking,he actually seems like he is a married man,the nerve of him! I pity his poor wife,and wait,you said you know him,maybe you were with him when you guys came here and made a bet that,let's get the girl,if you fail,I'll come in,that's it right? You guys are just the same aaargh,now ,I am going to leave and if you dare follow me,I will scream so loud that you are harassing me and you wouldn't want to know what will happen to you,and please warn your friend,tell him to stick it in his pants and only produce it when he is with the wife,poor woman."

As Melissa stood up,leaving the man dumbfounded, Acacia finally hang up the phone and they both broke into fits of laughter.

"She is good,look at the man's expression ",Arctic said and Acacia had to agree,it was hilarious, seeing her enemy dumbfounded made her want to jump out of the car and hug Melissa who was now walking out of the restaurant her face still maintaining the irritated facade.

She couldn't though, she didn't want to draw attention to her,she was a hot cake,the only person who had contacts of her and her dad. She deserved a reward for her performance though and Acacia already had something in mind.

"Let's leave,I think I owe you some explanations." The laughter in his eyes died at her statement and without a word he started the car.

As they drove back to the hotel,Acacia thought of what he could explain to Arctic ,it was a very difficult topic that she didn't even know how to start let alone explain. She was still blank when they arrived at the hotel and marched to their meeting point.

"Start with why you were watching those guys ,who was that lady by the way because it seems that, that was what brought you to the Savanna, you knew they were going to be there".

What a way to burst it on!

"Eeh,I rather start with the easiest explanation. "

He sternly looked at her but agreed anyway, maybe because she was looking at him with puppy eyes . He averted his eyes when she continued to look at him .

"Go ahead".

"Uuuhhmm,okay,this is it,those pictures are evidences, we are simply going to do alittle bit of payback. We will approach those employees, they are obviously not loyal so it will be easy to convince them to do some little things for us you know like drop a dead rat in the restaurant, little things like the one he did to you ", his eyes narrowed at the statement and she gauged he didn't like the idea at all.

"We are not going to start fires or destroy machines Arctic, just some little pranks here and there,For someone like your cousin he will probably think he is being targeted and he knows that you are the only person who can retaliate, he will obviously try to attack you again and this time we shall be prepared, we will have eyes on him ,plant cameras in his office, through our minions ofcourse and then gather enough evidences to destroy him once and for all." She finished and waited as he seemed to be pondering her words.

"Though it is a risky idea,I agree ,we just have to be discreet and think through the plan carefully ",relieved he understood, she nodded.

As she mentally prepared for her next explanations, her phone blinked continously, she frowned and lifted her phone,her heart beating, someone was at her gate. She opened the camera and face-palmed herself. Oh darn! She had forgotten about them. Rose and her children had arrived and there was no way they could get in unless she opened the gate for them. She had to leave now. She turned to Arctic who was curiously watching her.

"I am really sorry but I have to go, I promise to tell you everything tomorrow, I have visitors at home. Please understand",she finished her voice trying really hard to sound apologetic.

"I will be waiting, I am going nowhere." He replied and Acacia thanked him for understanding and hurriedly left. She was thankful for the distraction as it could give her more time to come up with something.